In today’s busy and overcrowded world of book marketing, new ideas and new ways are always welcomed. As with growing connectivity and reach of the audience even marketing books on social and digital platforms is also reaching saturation point quickly. Be it Facebook, Instagram, Twitter ads or blogs, newsletters, etc all these are becoming routine ways of book marketing, therefore to grab the attention of readers on these mediums is getting tougher day by day. So, to overcome this issue one of the latest, trending ways to market the book by the author is to use Podcast as the book marketing strategy.
Podcasts for book marketing is a fairly new platform. But the results and feedback this platform is receiving is pretty overwhelming. That’s why more and more authors or marketing strategists are turning to podcasting. Although getting behind the mic is a very old way of marketing books especially poetry, songs, musical plays, etc. But still, there are many authors who are skeptical about this platform and usually question how to use podcasts for book marketing?
Well, there are two main ways in which Podcast for book marketing can be done and they are as follows:
1. Address other Podcasts as a Guest:
This is one of the ways to use podcasts as a marketing tool. An author needs to first search and look, and list out podcasts that will serve his purpose to the fullest. For example, if an author likes to write poems or songs then Music podcasts are the best choice or if the author belongs to social issues genre then news or current affairs podcasts are the best platform in the category of podcasts available.
2. Starting own Podcast:
If an author wants to start his own podcast for book marketing, then he will not use the platform just to sell self books on the podcast. It’s more than that because starting one’s own podcast needs many things to develop it into a brand name. So that people can connect to it. Also, any podcast which starts as one’s own podcast finally ends up as a platform for others too.
The reason behind this is that the audience does not connect to things that are connected to one subject/topic/person only and if a writer keeps talking about him and his books always only, then listeners will get bored. In order to break that monotony these authors bring in new guest writers and interact with them by putting their own name in forefront as the Leading Star of the episode/platform. But in reality the guest writers are using the same podcast platform as a marketing and promotional tool.
Book Marketing on Podcasts
There are so many tools and platforms that help in book marketing and podcasts are one of the emerging mediums to reach the target audience. But the question arises why one should switch to podcasting? Well there are many advantages because of which podcast for book marketing is now given leverage and some of the reasons are given below:
1. Easy to use Both by the Reader and the Author:
One of the main reasons why podcasts are becoming so popular is that they are very easy to use. Be it the reader or the author both feel that it is one of the most convenient methods to learn about a book. With the age of technology and smartphones, using podcasts has become so easy. A listener who is a reader can listen to his book while he is driving or doing some other simple work side by side. This saves the readers time and that is why they are getting more acquainted and inclined towards podcasts.
As far as the authors are concerned, the medium is easy to use especially when they are appearing as a guest on a podcast, where they can talk about their book and promote it with little stories about the book. The authors can share some trivias, incidents, facts, etc related to the book or the genre which it belongs to. This helps in spreading some awareness and information via podcasting.
2. Increasing Reach of the Podcasts due to the Better Connect
Over the years the reach of the podcasts have increased multiple times. According to the data, the awareness about podcasts have risen by 44% in the last few years. By the end of 2019, 64% consumers were aware of the podcasting. An estimate says that by the end of 2022 listeners numbers will be 132 million people in the US alone and on an average a podcast consumer or listener listens to seven podcasts in one week and this is a 40% rise since 2017. The data clearly shows that podcasts are here to stay because the connection which a listener develops with the writer via podcast is more real. The emotions about the book which an author has written feels real when he narrates little incidents about it. This real connection with the book via the author on podcast is a very important factor for the success of the book.
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As simple as it sounds, a podcast needs prep by the author too, it is not a process to go, sit and talk behind the mic. For best results in terms of sales even the author needs to remember a few things,like research about the host and the audience of your podcast. The author should know about the show and its content and how the host interacts. At the end of the day the interaction between the host and the author will be showcased as an episode of podcast to the listener. So if the interaction between the host and the guest author is not entertaining and informative then it’s difficult to grab the audience’s attention.
Along with that, the author should have some knowledge about the technology used in podcasting. Then the author should be well versed with the topics which he wants to highlight during the session. He should note down important dates, numbers related to the book which he is marketing and promoting at the podcast.
How Podcasts are Better Tools for Book Marketing?
Podcasts can be a very effective tool as compared to other social and digital platforms for marketing because it is less crowded than other platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and youtube. For example, only on Facebook there are 80 million business pages as compared to 70,000 on podcasts. So, imagine marketing a book on Facebook will be like looking for a needle in a huge haystack, whereas on podcasts the competition is there yet space is also available there.
Also day by day the number of listeners is growing, it can go upto 115 million listeners per week. Also, podcasts need to be heard by the audience rather than physically sitting and reading a book. So, practically the listeners find it easier to use podcasts along with other day to day activities. It also helps in reducing the screen time which already has become an issue of concern for many people. Podcasts are not only entertaining in nature, but they are also quite informative too.
Along with that the real connection is created between the writer and the listener. That’s why the audience which uses podcasts are more loyal and attached to their favorite writers. This helps in developing a community of listeners which helps in creating a better platform not for reading only but also for awareness among their listeners. It is also not an expensive medium to use to market the book. So, with time podcasts are becoming a new interest of the audience (listeners) and because of that reason the writers/authors are also exploring this medium as a marketing tool with a good success rate. The future of podcasts for book marketing is bright and encouraging. That is why podcasts are making a lot of buzz these days among the readers who are actually listeners.
